SJHS teams sweep Cape Central

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston 8th and 9th grade basketball teams swept Cape Central on Thursday night at the Sikeston Middle School.

Sikeston's freshmen, playing without its top two scorers, defeated Cape Central 59-36 while the 8th grade team rallied to beat Cape's 8th grade 32-31.

Sikeston led 10-8 after one quarter and 22-13 at halftime. But the Bulldogs (7-0) out-scored Cape Central 37-23 in the second half to put the game away.

"Overall this was our best game defensively," said Sikeston freshman coach Chris Sarakas. "We came out and we guarded well. Everybody stepped up their defense and that just set the tone for the game. You take your top two scorers away and still come away with a victory, that says a lot about our team and our bench players."

Sikeston was led by Dwayne Harris with 14 points. Niquavious Dixon added nine points.

Sikeston will play against Twin Rivers in the Poplar Bluff Tournament on Monday at 6 p.m.

In the 8th grade game, Sikeston's Calvin Grayson sank a free throw with no time remaining to win the game.

Sikeston trailed by as much as seven points in the third quarter, but finished the game strong to pull out the victory.

Sikeston made 8-of-11 free throws. Corey Porter led the Bulldogs with eight points. Deaires Tate and Will Holifield each had six points.

"We shot free throws well and that turned out to be a big part in the fourth quarter," said Sikeston 8th grade coach Kevin Self. "For the most part, our intensity was much better in the second half. We created things with our defense and turned up the defensive intensity. We've only got eight guys, but they clung together and found out a way to win."

Sikeston (4-3) will play at Charleston on Monday at 6 p.m.

In a game played on Wednesday, Sikeston's freshman team defeated Jackson 58-41. Sikeston was led by Juqualin Wiggins' 19 points and Eli Jackson's 17 points.

The Rams climbed to the .500 mark with a win at Richland, which was coming off a championship in the consolation bracket at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

Jay Simmons and Alex King each had 12 points to lead the Rams (5-5), and Caleb Estes added 10. Scott City built a nine-point lead through three periods.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

The Scott County Central Bravettes continued their hot play on Thursday night at home against the East Prairie Lady Eagles with a 77-33 win.

The Bravettes outscored East Prairie 42-16 in the first half and eased to the conference win.

Senior Samantha Jones and Brittney Peet paced Scott Central with 54 combined points.

Jones connected on four 3-pointers for her game-high 29 points to lead the way for the Bravettes.

Sophomore Whitley Rundles was the only double digit scorer for East Prairie with 10 points.

Scott Central (6-2) will face Charleston in the first round of the Scott-Miss. Conference Tourney at Oran. Tip is set for 8:30 p.m.

Some information provided by the SEMO News Service.